User Reviews

In all honesty, my Dad paid me to go see the Notebook with my friends because he kept saying how magnificent it was. i went because it was free, and with no expectations. However, the Notebook drew me into the story from the beginning right up until the credits- and then kept me crying for quite some time after it had ended. I, along with almost every other person i have discussed the movie with, felt involved in the situations and the lives of the character- crying at the sad moments and feeling joy at the happy bits. in general, love stories are predictable and somewhat dull (in my opinion) yet this movie kept me guessing at the outcome, and delivered twists throughout the whole film.The Notebook was extremely well constructed and i would give it an eleven out of ten.

683 out of 791 found this helpful.
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I went to see this film with my sister and my Mum and we were the only ones in the cinema. Not the best start, but I continued to watch it anyway and am so glad I did. This is probably one of the most beautiful and romantic films I have ever seen! From the relationship of the two characters to their surroundings, every scene is breathtaking! The Notebook tells the story of a summer romance that turns into a romance never to be forgotten. Allie and Noah are the two lead characters and they are wonderful. You immediately fall in love with the characters and you want to follow every step of their doomed love story. it is one of the greatest love stories ever told. Look out for the lake scene, unbelievable! I came out of the cinema wanting to go back in again and watch it all over again. It feels like you are reading a diary watching this film, thats how detailed and wonderful this film is. Cannot really give too much away about the story, all I can say is if you haven't seen this film yet, be sure to see it. I cannot think of a film more perfect for Valentines Day!

482 out of 576 found this helpful.
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This movie seems to be postcard perfect, a lesson straight out of the director's guide to romantic movies. Boy meets girl at a carnival, love from the other side of the tracks, a date by the water, etc. And yet the wonderful thing about this movie is that it takes what seems like a story you've heard already (at least in bits and pieces) and still moves you deeply. It really speaks about love in a way that most romantic movies miss by speaking in cliché or over shoot by adding in numerous complications to dramatize things. There have been other great movies to comment on love in recent years (Eternal Sunshine, Lost In Translation jump to mind) but this movie fills a need that those other movies miss: the need for a straight, sweep you off your feet romance. Too bad there can't be movies like this every year...

261 out of 313 found this helpful.
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Often times when a movie comes from source material such as a novel that did well, the people who were fans of the book end up not liking the movie as much. Sometimes those same fans even end up hating the movie, or not even giving it a chance by seeing it. Such was the case, that I already knew the ending of Nicholas Sparks's novel even before I got into the theater. Let me clear up though, that the best thing about the film was that I ended up getting wrapped in the story on the screen, rather than sitting there thinking to myself what part of the story should be coming next. That is what makes a great adaptation, when you can get lost in the story, and forget about your thoughts, or what is going on in the outside world. Not only that, but the film soared past any expectations that I had for it from the start too, by being very well Directed and acted.

Best known for his acting credits, Nick Cassavetes was tapped to direct this film. His past experience, which didn't consist of very many films includes the Denzel Washington film John Q. This was not going to be an easy task for him though, because the story was built on us believing the love that the main characters of the film would be showing was real. It?s not as easy as it sounds, and some films (like Star Wars Part 2), end up making the audience laugh, rather than feel what the characters are feeling. He did a great job, and helped put together a great cast for this film that would end up including Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, and Joan Allen. All actors who have found their niches before, and were brought in to this film to help carry the story.

Gosling is best known for his role as "Richie", one of the kids, in Murder By Numbers. He brings a great innocence to the role of Noah Calhoun in the film, one of the two main characters. Rachel McAdams plays the other half of the duo as Allie Hamilton. She was actually one of the leads (Regina George) in an earlier Summer movie, Mean Girls. At the heart of this film the couple represents the love story that is being told by James Garner's character. He reads from a book , the story of the two lovers as they go through everything life has to offer. Gena Rowlands plays the lady that he is reading to, and she gets as wrapped up in the story as we do, as he progresses from chapter to chapter in the novel he is reading. Garner was perfect for this role, and shows his narrating skills as he explains how the two of them live.

Meanwhile, in the story, Noah and Allie meet in one of the cutest scenes of the movie. He sees her at a carnival, and knows right away that he wants to be with her. He does not know quite why at first, and all he can say is that something inside of him is drawing him to her. He convinces her to give him a chance, and she eventually agrees to give him the date that he seeks. What progresses from there is a Summer romance that goes through all of the emotions that we all have experienced before. What makes it even more real, is that it is not played off as if every single moment is perfect between the two of them. It depicts that they do have fights, that they do have disagreements, but that they do have a love that is stronger than any of that. This is what made the romance real for me. Everyone knows, that in real life we can't have a relationship where everything works out perfectly, or where everyone agrees on everything.

The romance blossoms, but a problem exists that could spell trouble. Noah is from a one- parent family, and sees himself working at a lumber-yard for the better part of his life. He says that he has found his place in life, and this is what the "cards" have planned for him. Allie on the other hand, come from a very well-off family, and is being brought up in a rich societal circle. Her family is spending her 17th Summer in the small town by the sea, and first comes across Noah by pure coincidence. The romance between them is kept under wraps for quite a while, until her parents find out. The mother immediately thinks that is should end, but the father feels that it is just a summer "thing" that will come to an end rather quickly. That is, until she is out late one night with Noah, and he takes the side of his wife. They see no future between their daughter and this "boy", and take her away from him the first chance they get.

That coupled with the outbreak of World War II keeps them apart for a couple of years, and the story really gets underway. Will their love be able to endure the separation, or will one of them move on to something that is easier in their own lives? The story becomes an epic of its own, as its starts to split time between the story being read, and the story of Garner and Rowlands living in the present day. This is what I love about films like these, as we are given the opportunity to enjoy two different stories going on at the same time. The love shown by Noah and Allie is something that envelopes us, and it makes us forget about the current story. By going back and forth, we are able to look forward to where each of the two stories is going. All of it leads to an ending of each story that is both very enjoyable, and very emotional at the same time.

As I said before, sometimes a book can fail to transition to film. This is not one of those cases, as the movie instead becomes its own entity. Both stories have great chemistry between the characters at the center of them. It is amazing just how well the actors/actresses in the parts play their roles, and just how much we as an audience start to care about their lives. As it progresses, we truly care about what will happen to the main characters, and we have in our own minds how we want things to turn out. It is that type of film, where we start to become part of the story, and want them to act or say something specific, that truly makes a great story. Even though this is a movie that is heavily geared to lovers of romance novels, this is a film that I found very enjoyable. I highly recommend seeing this film while it is in theaters, or purchasing it when it hits DVD, because it has everything that is needed for a truly great love story.

413 out of 501 found this helpful.
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This amazing love story can be enjoyed by all. The Notebook is not one of those cheesy chick flicks that often come out, it is a brilliantly written intriguing story about two young lovers that most people can relate to.

Even most males will agree that this movie pulls at your heart strings. Filled with fabulous quotes, and sentimental moments I found this movie to be one of the best I've seen. I got to know both main characters and found myself relating to each of them. Most of us remember our first love and that strong connection we had with them. This movie makes us think of what could have been and gives us a fresh look at the meaning of true love. I recommend this movie to anyone with a heart.

330 out of 401 found this helpful.
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I went into this movie with the misconception of thinking this was just another typical romantic movie, but I was very impressed by this film and the themes portrayed in this movie were handled in a great way.

This movie will have you feeling happy and joyful and the scenery is just brilliant. You will feel like you are part of the characters, and you will care about them throughout the whole movie.

The movie gallops in speed as we are absorbed into the great plot and brilliant acting of all the cast involved. Ryan Gosling is brilliant as the shy and quiet Noah, and Rachael McAdams is superbly beautiful as the star of the movie, Allie.

As I said earlier in my review, I did go into the movie not expecting much and that was because I thought it was a typical "boy loves girl" movie which are sometimes just too predictable. Don't get me wrong, they are some good Romantic movies that pull it off very well, but there are simply too many in that particular genre.

The best thing about this movie was the depth of the plot and the actors playing their characters so well. The supporting cast were good, and James Marsden deserves a mention for managing to pull of a hard role as the "rich man" well. Another plus point about this movie was the great script, and you did not see too many "cliches" which is always a good sign in a Romance movie.

It does not matter whether you love romantic movies or hate them, this is NOT just a romantic movie it is so more than that. By the end of the movie you will feel a whole heap of emotions. You will be talking about this movie for a long time.

The only bad part about this movie is the length, which I think could be shortened a bit but on the whole this was a superb movie which is well worth a watch.

Go and Watch this! Amazing movie which will have you brimming with joy.

9 1/2 out of 10

413 out of 514 found this helpful.
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This story plays out as Duke, played by James Garner, reads a story about two young people in the 1940s who fall in love and endure life. The movie moves between present-day and the 1940s. It is structurally very similar to "Fried Green Tomatoes", which is also one of my all time favorite movies.

Unlike "Fried Green Tomatoes", this focuses on young love as it grows and endures through wars and parental dissent. Sure, the core is the "Romeo and Juilet" theme, but the way is plays out and the exceptional charisma that the actors bring to the screen make it feel fresh and not entirely predictable. This is a deeply romantic movie. If you are cynical at all about romance, timeless love and dedication to another person, you may find yourself rolling your eyes a bit. I am not that cynical about the emotional ties that bind us and I was thoroughly taken in by the story.

This is such a gentle movie. The characters are very human and very likable. All of the actors turn in engrossing and compelling performances.

Technically, this movie is exceptional, too. The scenes during the opening credits is absolutely breathtaking. The editing is very good. The story is compelling from the opening credits to the closing credits.

My wife and I don't always share the same perspective on movies, but we agreed on this one. We both loved it immensely. I am certain this will become part of our permanent collection.

266 out of 328 found this helpful.
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The Notebook is one of my all-time favourite movies. Its a constant, and classic love story that makes you feel as if you are there watching it.. as if you are one of the characters, which makes the impact of the story just that much more real. There really are no words to describe how this movie makes you feel, but one thing is for sure... It will make you feel. After watching it, i've often just.. sat where i am and just thought about it. It's just one of those movies that you will think about 30 years after watching it, and still get that same feeling in your heart.. and you'll know that it touched you in one way or another. If you haven't seen it, you really are missing out... Its a classic!

305 out of 392 found this helpful.
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I am a big fan of love stories. Lately, the film industry has been lacking the sort of element that I love to see in a movie. The last movie I saw that made me cry as much as "The Notebook" did was "Ghost" with Demi Moore. The casting of Allie and Noah in the movie was exceptional and made the feelings and emotions seem real. After watching the movie in the theater, I noticed every person, including the men, cry as they left the theater. Now when was the last time you saw anything like that?? I bought the movie on DVD the day it came out and have been watching it everday since that day!! I would highly recommend this movie to both males and females.

313 out of 406 found this helpful.
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Prior to watching "The Notebook," I was not familiar with the work of the actress Rachel McAdams. She made an indelible impression by sustaining an outstanding performance in this film. Her character Allie is the pivotal role in the film, as she must make the crucial romantic decision on which the story turns. There are few performers capable of evolving the complexity of characterization as achieved by Rachel McAdams.

The film recreated effectively the world of the 1940s in America, including the parental pressure exerted by the well-to-do family of Allie on whether to allow their daughter to pursue a young man from the other side of the tracks. As played by Ryan Gosling, the character of Noah could have revealed more emotional layers. There was only one scene in the film where he really showed that there was something at stake in his love for Allie. He apparently wrote her a passionate letter every day for a year. Especially in the film's early scenes, Gosling could have shown more of the passion.

The other cast members were outstanding, including James Garner and Gena Rowlands in the parallel story. In the two plots, "The Notebook" merits comparison with another outstanding romantic film, "The Bridges of Madison County." As the two subplots of "The Notebook" come together, one of the key characters is Allie's mother. As always, Joan Allen delivers a convincing and complete character portrayal, as the well-intentioned, but conflicted mother. In one of the most moving scenes in the film, the mother opens up to the daughter and tells her story of youthful love and a fateful choice similar to the one Allie herself must face.

My favorite scene in the film: a wonderful sequence where Noah and Allie are in a boat in the backwaters of South Carolina. The waterway is simply filled with white geese. It is a stunning and picturesque moment, among many in this well-crafted film. If there is such a spot in South Carolina, then I want to go there!

161 out of 236 found this helpful.
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there are three things I look for in movies, quality acting, a good script, and originality of the story...this movie had none of these. Could it have been any more cliché? the only thing that impressed me was Allie's wardrobe and the car she was driving. I've seen better acting on lifetime! and so many unnecessary parts that are completely pointless. "A walk to remember" is about a hundred times better and it didn't get half the attention this movie did. If you're not aware already, it's based on a book by the same author as "the notebook". if you want to see a moving love story you'll be disappointed from this film unless you're 13...can't believe all the rave...it is not deserved...a total waste of my time...

72 out of 108 found this helpful.
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Heartwarming, heart-wrenching, poignant, emotional, conniving, manipulative and forceful romance tale based on the vastly successful best seller by novelist Nicholas Sparks tells the story of two young lovers (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) who fall for each other in rural Seabrook, North Carolina over one faithful summer in 1940. Naturally there are problems galore though as Gosling is a commoner who works at the local lumberyard and has no real prospects while McAdams is a socialite just visiting for the summer. Soon it is apparent that she is going to be heading for the women's college Sarah Lawrence in New York City when the season is over. Her parents (caricature David Thornton and the always brilliant Joan Allen) are cold for the most part as they know that Gosling is way beneath their social standing. The typical romance between the classes becomes strained and it becomes apparent that the relationship may not work out. Gosling does not fret though as he swears to write to McAdams everyday. As time passes, the U.S. involvement in World War II forces Gosling and best friend Kevin Connolly (a real scene stealer) to go to Europe to fight for Patton's Allied Forces. Meanwhile McAdams volunteers as a nurse in New York while attending school and instantly injured army man James Marsden falls in love with her. A short courtship, and the fact that he is from a wealthy southern family that her parents approve of, endears him to McAdams. She also falls in love with him, finally putting the hurt of her time with Gosling behind her (she never knows that Gosling's letters are intercepted by Allen). Gosling returns from war and his loving father (a fine turn by the excellent Sam Shepard) has sold his home so Gosling can buy and fix up an old dilapidated house from the area. Gosling's promise to McAdams to repair the old mansion during their summer fling drives him to brilliant work, but self-destructive emotional tendencies. He drinks uncontrollably, sheds himself from others and has a loveless physical relationship with young war widow Jamie Brown (in a well-timed and very convincing role). A crazy twist of fate then leads McAdams back to North Carolina. She finally starts to rekindle the immense love she once felt for him while his love for her continues to burn as bright as ever. We all know that there are consequences abound for McAdams though as she is now engaged to Marsden and still falls in line when confronted by her domineering mother. The whole story goes on through flashbacks as in the present-day a kind elderly man (arguably James Garner's crowning achievement) reads to a fellow nursing home occupant (Gena Rowlands) who is suffering through Alzheimer's Disease. The titled item is read to Rowlands everyday by Garner in the hopes that she will always be reminded of the story and hopefully always moved by it. My goodness "The Notebook" is an emotionally charged candy cane of near epic proportions that is so sweet that you might get diabetes watching it. The film does its best to persuade and make the audience feel the way it wants you to feel that it turns those watching into slaves to the story. So help me, I liked being a slave to this picture. It is not near as complicated and creative a story as it would make itself out to be, but it knows exactly which buttons to push and when to push them as the old Hollywood formula (which has been around since the late-1910s in the cinema) sucks its viewers in. This film is not as good as many wonderful romances of the past (everything seems mixed here from "Casablanca" to "It's a Wonderful Life" to "Summer of '42" to "Annie Hall" to "Cinema Paradiso" to "Titanic" to "Love Actually" and everything else in-between), but it will still grab and hug at you tightly. Nick Cassavetes (Rowlands' real-life son) is a deceptively clever director that knows how to use tone and varying film-making principles to literally move his audience at will just as he would move his characters to perform in certain ways. No doubt there are shortcomings and flaws here as the movie runs too long and sometimes talks down to its audience. But with these things said the project is a smashing success that serves its purpose. Garner and Rowlands are amazing as they have basically a table-tennis match of roles when on screen. Gosling (best known as one of Denzel Washington's players in "Remember the Titans") and McAdams (who has a credit list of ho-hum films like "The Hot Chick") do definitely have a heated chemistry that pulls you in almost immediately and never lets you go. The other actors are all perfectly placed with Shepard and Allen providing stellar screen-time and Brown (in admittedly a relatively small role) showing the makings of an individual who has the potential to have an exciting film career. Beautifully scripted by Jeremy Leven (maybe a bit too beautifully done if possible), "The Notebook" will engrave itself on you. 4 stars out of 5.

46 out of 71 found this helpful.
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SPOILERS THROUGHOUT. 'The Notebook' is the 17,329,587th movie about a woman choosing between a reliable steady guy who sincerely loves her and a macho jerk. It's also the 17,329,587th movie in which (big surprise!) she chooses the macho jerk, and we're supposed to applaud that decision. This movie's one slight twist in the moss-encrusted formula is a flashback framing device, which supposedly makes it more difficult for us in the present to guess which choice she made in the 1950s.

Gena Rowlands (who pronounces it 'jenna') plays a woman with Alzheimer's Movie disease, which is different from real-life Alzheimer's disease because it only makes her forget things in the service of the plot line. Real-life Alzheimer's patients, tragically, forget their toilet-training and stuff like that. Gena Rowlands is all glammed-up here, remembering everything except minor details like which man she married. When the script calls for her to have a convenient resurgence of memory, here it comes bang on schedule. When the script calls for an equally convenient loss of the same memory, there it goes.

Due to the flashback structure, the major roles are split between young actors (playing the leads in the 1940s and '50s) and senior-citizen actors as the same characters in the present. Gena Rowlands shares her role with the much younger Rachel McAdams as Allie Hamilton. Unfortunately, Ms McAdams has two very prominent birthmarks which have no counterparts on Ms Rowlands ... making Allie Hamilton the world's only woman whose body has FEWER spots as she gets older.

There is anachronistic dialogue in the flashback scenes. The 1940s sequences are production-designed within an inch of their lives, but they don't look like the actual 1940s. Everything is too bright, too colourful, with no sense of wartime shortages or rationing. As usual in Hollywood movies, we get the past as Hollywood *wants* it to be, not the past as it actually was. I cringed during one scene in an upscale nightclub in the southern United States in the 1940s, in which an African-American bandleader grins his approval while black and white couples share the dance floor. There may have been a few lower-class roadhouses in the Jim Crow south where the races mingled, but it did *not* happen in upper-class establishments like the one shown here!

Noah Calhoun, the macho jerk, not only places himself in danger but also endangers everybody else (first on a ferris wheel, then by grabbing the brake of a bus while it's in motion), and we're meant to admire this guy. Later, in the 1950s, he sports an incredibly ridiculous sensitive-guy beard that's right out of the 1980s or later. Any white man who wore a beard like this in the southern United States in the 1950s would have been carried out of town on a rail.

Sam Shepard does his usual posturing and preening. James Garner plays the older version of one of the two rivals for Allie's affection, and we're not supposed to know whether she chose irresponsible jerk Noah or steady reliable Lon. Sorry, but movie heroines always make that choice the same way, so the suspense level is zero.

I will give director Nick Cassavetes some credit: he's actually interested in telling a story about human interaction, unlike his father John Cassavetes who specialised in pretentious acting-school exercises in which nothing ever happened. Unfortunately, the story in 'The Notebook' is a very predictable one. This movie is soppy, sloppy, floppy and choppy. I'll rate it 3 points out of 10.

36 out of 55 found this helpful.
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My wife and I watched The Notebook last night. Within ten minutes we were furious at how slow, cliché, and predictable it was. And then it just got worse and worse. It was so very very bad that we were actually drawn to watch in perverse, embarrassed horror as each scene plodded through stale, obvious dialog, and the actors tried to salvage what was obviously a terrible muddle by overacting. I can't begin to convey just how awful this movie is, in every sense. Leave aside the horrendously dull, cliché-ridden script, the terrible acting, the ham-fisted directing, the swelling tear-jerker music, and the incredibly obvious plot -- Even the freaking costumes were terrible. The fake facial hair looked like it was done by 3rd-graders. If movies are meant to fascinate, then this one did all right. I consider this the worst film I have seen in at least five years, but rarely if ever have I (and my wife) been compelled to stay all the way through such abysmal crap out of some sort of hilarious anger at how were were wasting our own time. I mean we were jumping on the couches ad screaming in warped glee as each predictable plot point was tediously checked off the director's checklist. All the way to the very last shot (in the backstory) of her coming back and them hugging in a swirl of stock sentimental string music -- OF COURSE SHE'S COMING BACK. And the front story? They, uh, die TOGETHER? My God. We could not stop howling. Was he even sick? No. He just died -- just because! Because it went with the sickeningly sweet music, I guess. Then I come here expecting to be vindicated and I find a bunch of comments by people who were actually taken in by this plodding, pathetic drivel. What in the world is up? I usually am with IMDb folks on their 7.8s, but man alive, folks, step away from the Kool-Aid.

82 out of 137 found this helpful.
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I think most of the folks who rated this movie between 1 and 3 stars have pretty much nailed the reasons why this film was bad-to-mediocre.

Ryan Gosling looked and sounded like he was straight out of L.A. Hands down the worst casting in the movie. Gosling seemed like he *might* be able to act in a movie with a title like, say, "Hey, Dude, Wha's Up", but that's about it. The guy has the energy of a turnip. At one point, I thought he might possibly be a step away from being stoned.

Gosling's character's on screen relationship with Rachel McAdams appeared to be relatively chemistry-free. But that might also have been due to the lame script. Some of the lines were hard to take seriously. Still, it would have been nice if Gosling, in particular, had tried.

The movie reminded of a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, but with poorer production values. And the film seemed to be about the '30s and '40s as imagined by someone contemporary. Hence, there is no hesitancy about a woman sleeping with someone she barely knows (and to whom she is not married), blacks and whites cheerfully intermingle everywhere--this contemporization of a much earlier era was distracting.

Also, I never understood why Allie falls for Noah in the first place. Noah is an immature doof--endangering himself and others on the ferris wheel, talking to Allie later on like a would-be stalker, and then, when they do go out, lying in the middle of the street. And when Allie tells Noah she doesn't want to lie in the middle of the intersection, Noah pulls the manipulative old, "Your problem is you just don't let your self have any fun."

Maybe her problem, Noah, is that she has common sense and you don't?

According to the young lovers, all they do is fight. And they have nothing in common. But hey, as the movie shows us, they're physically attracted to each other. And that is enough to produce a great and enduring love.

Now there's a wonderful message to send the teenage girls who must be watching this film.

And finally, the movie shows Allie's fiancé, Lon, as a wonderful guy. Mature, hard-working, with a string of virtues already mentioned by another IMDb poster. And Allie is in love with him. I cannot fathom why she would be more attracted to Noah, with whom she argues and has nothing in common (except sexual attraction, evidently).

I did think James Garner did a decent job with the script he was given. But it was all too little too late.

59 out of 96 found this helpful.
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"I am no one special. Just a common man with common thoughts. I've lead a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I've succeeded as gloriously as anyone who ever lived. I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and for me that has always been enough."

Right. Are you sure it was enough? For you still had to write a "gloriously" stupid book (and make a "gloriously" stupid movie based on it)! Not only stupid. Trite, empty, boring... A glorious disaster!

The characters are dull! Noah is what? Manic-depressive? Manic in the first 5 minutes, and throughout the rest of the movie depressive. Does he even fit the elderly character (you know, the grandpa who winks to young nurses)? Of course not. On the contrary, Allie is always hysterical, and all I got to hear were her constant screams. She seems and sounds like she's trying to reanimate a dead person. (Noah?) That person would probably kill her after the outcome and then peacefully die again. I think she would do perfect in a role of the serial killer's principal victim. Explicit edition only!

The music is simply unbearable!!!

And what about the children? There is only one scene with the all three of them! How superficial does one need to be, to put them in only one scene, and have us believe that they are actually a big part of their grand love and happy fairy tale life? The daughter says "Dad come home, we miss you". But dad had more important issues. He loved mom so much that he had to call on the whole divine/ demonic/ extraterrestrial/ voodoo/etc gang to make them die together?! Touchy. Who cares about children anyway.

And sooooooo many other bugs... Damn I don't even know why I'm writing this. I feel like one of Jeffrey Dahmer's zombies. Even that should feel better than being this numb after watching this piece of... you know what.

The only good thing about this movie is Joan Allen's performance.

43 out of 68 found this helpful.
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...You may cry out due to complete boredom and instances of sudden outbursts of laughter due to this movie's all-round stupid and unrealistic plot. Just so sad to see two fabulous, classic actors accept supporting roles in a poorly written movie; with countless obvious mistakes, many being historical in nature; from a terrible book.

I think if they had a different writing team, different researchers!, and ditched those two awful youth actors (who belong in teen flicks and those stupid giant lizard and shark movies on the Sci-Fi channel), the movie may have been good if the focus was on the late stages of their life and not the early. When they were young, it was all totally unrealistic cloudy rolls in the hay, giant rivers filled with birds and a wet sundress contest and pouty fights. But the roles Gena Rowlands and James Garner were totally different and could really make a wonder movie.

The many historical flaws were very distracting. Such as her jewelry styles. The types of pearls a betrothed upper class girl at her age were totally wrong. Also the lack of progression of the fashions through the decade of their youth is wrong especially for someone w/ money.

Unusually, I would say read the book, but that was just as bad. My recommendation is watch a different movie! Oh and I SO totally agree with dallas_viewer 's review! This person hit it on the nose! Also kj_justice 's review is spot on except for the Disney comment. Sappy Disney romance is one kind I always love! :-)

42 out of 67 found this helpful.
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I must stress to you my belief in that the 'romantic comedy' is pretty much the worst creation of mankind. Some may argue that religion or the atom bomb are more destructive but the romcom (ugh!) is consistent proof that the public are idiots willing to fork over cash multiple times for the same old, same old crap. We very rarely get a sincere romance film, they kinda died out in the forties and have struggled for breath since.

I liked A Walk to Remember a lot and felt obliged to check this out (because it's from a book by the same writer). That obligation turned out to be quite rewarding as this sober, mature film was everything zillion dollar attempts to make us cry (I'm subtly referencing Pearl Harbor) were not. It's all about character and the guts and imagination to tell a good story.

Noah is a simple 17-year-old lumberyard worker. He's cocky, arrogant but very good-natured and he quickly attaches himself to Allie, a girl from the city, from Old Money and a fussy family who condemn her relationship with Noah. This is all told in flashback as old Noah (James Garner) reads from his book of youthful memories. Yes, this part is nothing original but the conviction by the cast make it astonishingly real and believable. The performances all round (but especially from Gosling and Rachel McAdams) give The Notebook a strong edge over most attempts at romance. You can literally feel their urge for each other and are involved with them all the way. 'Will she or won't she' plot lines have been done to agonising death so credit must be given Nick Cassavetes (who you'll probably best remember as Castor Troy's bald pal from Face/Off) for pulling it off so eloquently.

I strongly recommend that you give The Notebook a try. Even if your a hardened 300-pound muscle-man who's afraid to love it's still worth it. But I must warn you, if your the kind of person who breaks down in uncontrollable crying at the end of Bicentennial Man (err...) you must know that The Notebook ends very similarly. So if your lip quivers easily, watch it alone.

The DVD is in gorgeous-looking 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen that perfectly shows off the wonderful cinematography and warm color pallet of the film. The Dolby 5.1 soundtrack is most unsophisticated but considering the nature of the film, that is to be expected. Extras include, 2 Commentaries by director Nick Cassavetes and writer Nicholas Sparks, 12 Deleted Scenes, featurettes on Cassavetes and Sparks, 'Locating The Notebook' Featurette, Casting Noah and Allie Featurette, Rachel McAdams Screen Test and the Trailer.

21 out of 31 found this helpful.
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I went to watch "The Notebook" because my girlfriend had read the book and asked me to come watch it with her. Being a guy who does not enjoy romantic movies very much I was very reluctant about seeing this film. However, I can honestly say that I was blown away by this beautifully written, acted, and directed movie. I had only seen Ryan Gosling in one other movie, "Murder by Numbers", and was impressed by his performance in an otherwise forgettable picture. He has a great charisma and on-stage presence that few other actors have. Similarly, Rachel McAdams truly shines here in her breakout role as a rich southern girl who falls in love with Gosling's character. Not to be outdone by their younger counter-parts, Gena Rowlands and James Garner are also excellent in this film.

There are many things that I truly enjoyed about "The Notebook", most notably the simple but poignant love story between Noah and Allie. I think one of the hardest things to do in a film is to show true love, which is so rare in real life, and thus extremely difficult to replicate on screen. Nick Cassavetes does an exceptional job of presenting the story without any sappy or phony elements that would have made the film cheap and predictable. Instead, he allows Gosling and McAdams to become the characters of Noah and Allie and they take it from there. Their performances are truly outstanding, I could honestly feel the love between them in every scene. This was a completely new experience for me because I rarely watch romantic films, and even more rarely find them to be believable.

I would recommend this film to everyone, both male and female. I know that most guys will be hesitant to watch this movie, but they should not be. If you've ever been in love, and if you've ever felt about someone like you've never felt about anyone else, you will enjoy "The Notebook". And even if you've never been in love I think that you will find this movie to be an honest and sincere story about two people that never stopped loving each other until their very last moments together.

15 out of 21 found this helpful.
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Girl meets poor boy and they are kept apart by mean stereotypical rich parents. She then gets engaged to a very nice man and sees it fit to cheat on him with her ex. But it all ends well because she is SO IN LOVE with her ex. I don't think that helped her fiancé very much...

I can't understand why this film is so popular. Perhaps it is because it lets women feel like anything they do is justifiable as long as they do it for "love". It encourages selfish behaviour and revokes any responsibility in favour of instant gratification.

Besides that, it was all very predictable and slow.

Finally, speaking as a woman whose grandfather had serious dementia, I think it was really really ridiculous that he would confuse and upset her daily like that just for his own selfish needs. Anyone who has been around dementia sufferers would see how unkind/not at all plausible this story line is.

I'm as much of a sucker for a good chick flick as any other woman, but this is just ridiculous! It's the cinematic equivalent of eating one of those big plastic bags of cotton candy all by yourself...it might sound good, but you'll feel kind of nauseated after.

It alternates between a pretty young couple yelling at each other and then groping each other, and their future selves in a Twilight Zone nursing home furnished right out of Crate & Barrel where all the female patients always have freshly applied lipstick. Almost all the plot points are telegraphed in about the first 10 minutes (except for that supremely stupid ending...they died happily ever after, just because they wanted to).

A few observations: Why is she so surprised her mother hid the letters? Isn't that something a protective mother would do in those days? Didn't she know how to write? And considering they've been married for oh, about 50 or 60 years in the nursing home scenes, why do none of their children look over 30? Did she serve a long stint in a convent at some point?

14 out of 20 found this helpful.
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It's not that I dislike romance anything but this has movie tries so hard to be some sort of acronym to the word "chick flick" that it ends up shooting you to death with it's intended love arrows. Now could it be that I can't relate the alleged lovers in this movie? I mean I wasn't born in the 30s, I'm not a soldier so I was never in any wars (haven't we seen enough WW2 stories by the way?) and of course I don't have any family as of yet. But surely the universal power love is something everyone can relate to? Especially when depicted by a movie that uses no other element to drive its plot. Think again, the definition of love shown in this film is so naive, sugar-coated and completely oblivious of anything in the real world that it makes Star Wars look like something from the Discovery channel.

The so called "couple" in this film are only in love because the movie says they are, not because there's any sort of chemistry between the actors and not because the characters themselves even act like. Even Allie's alleged interest in painting felt so tacked on shallow and fake it made my head hurt. Speaking of Allie, it actually infuriates me to see the character acting like she has absolutely no control over her libido because the sex is just about the only thing the couple seems to have in common, and the only thing, aside from arguing, that they enjoy doing together. And yet this movie is supposed to be oh so romantic.

It's by some small miracle that this movie got the raving reviews it did, luckily it seems most of those were given by teenage girls and their tool boyfriends (no Oscars or anything) so I don't have to completely give up on humanity yet. If one day your girlfriend suddenly shows up all lyrical about this movie and wants it to "share it with you" I'd strongly advise any guy to end that relationship pronto. Your girlfriend will obviously already have built up her own twisted fantasy of what a relationship should be like, a fantasy that no guy, live or dead, could possibly live up to. Stay away.

155 out of 288 found this helpful.
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Although they're fun to watch, most love movies are predictable after seeing the first five minutes. The Notebook, however; keeps you glued to the t.v and guessing. Rachel Mcadams' character is a more sweet and disciplined rich girl who she plays beautifully. Ryan Gosiling also brings out the best in his character and together they make the perfect couple. I'm not much of a romantic, but the scenes of them together are really not easy to put into words. All i can say is that, if you're a love movie person, it's the movie for you. And if you're not, it's still the movie for you, to make you realise not all love movies are the same.

15 out of 22 found this helpful.
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I found this movie offensive, It's popularity is telling of the selfish delusional expectations and lack of consideration for anybody other than the couple, in fact the couples happiness should be at the expense of every other person, even when they are portrayed in good character.

Unlike other "love story / chick flick" components to movies such as titanic etc, the guy she left, who she also happened to be unfaithful to, for her "true love", was portrayed as a nice guy throughout the movie. No sympathy was attributed to this guy even though his loss was at the expense of her.

Another example of this was shown that the couple had 4 children ranging from young teen to adult. When the movie ended with the pair of them in bed both expiring at the same time, several people claim this was a happy event (a good way to go). Well it is for the 2 people, rather the one that would not have outlived the other and thus would not suffer the loss. However, they are not the only 2 people in the world, there were 4 children. I have had the misfortune of losing a parent. If I lost both at the same time, I don't think I would have thought that was such a happy event. This is another example of the focus on the "love / romance" at any cost to others. This happens in a lot of movies, but normally it happens less and the loss is to the "bad guy".

It goes to show how most women in our society (primarily at a young age) will over value (to say the least) the "love / romance" (if you want to call it that) at the expense of anybody else's happiness - even when they are portrayed as good characters.

38 out of 64 found this helpful.
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I can't believe someone agreed to make a film from this script. Everything is so blatantly obvious and no character goes through a journey. They are all one dimensional and boring. There is no suspension let alone any twists.

Saying all this, the photography is good and the acting isn't that bad. Still this doesn't warrant 2 stars.

Ah, yes, I'll just mention there are some uninspiring sex scenes and the film is also at least half an hour too long.

If you want to see a great love story where you feel with he characters and don't know why or how until the end, check The English Patient.

25 out of 40 found this helpful.
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